Mustelus

Mustelus, also known as the smooth-hounds, is a genus of sharks in the family Triakidae. The name of the genus comes from the Latin word mustela, meaning weasel. It should not be confused with the name Mustela, which is used for weasels.

Mustelus

Tassapon KRAJANGDARA, Thumawadee JAIYEN and Supachai RODPRADIT · CC BY 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
TriakinaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Carcharhiniformes
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Carcharhiniformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Carcharhiniformes

Time the record covers

At least 55 million years on record.

The record covers at least 56 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 59.24 Mya to 0 Mya.

Paleocene — about 5 of 68 occurrencesEocene — about 25 of 68 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 0 of 68 occurrencesMiocene — about 25 of 68 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 9 of 68 occurrencesPleistocene — about 2 of 68 occurrences60–58 Mya — about 1 occurrence58–56 Mya — about 3 occurrences56–54 Mya — about 1 occurrence54–52 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences52–50 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences50–48 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences48–46 Mya — about 2 occurrences46–44 Mya — about 2 occurrences44–42 Mya — about 2 occurrences42–40 Mya — about 3 occurrences40–38 Mya — about 5 occurrences38–36 Mya — about 4 occurrences36–34 Mya — about 4 occurrences34–32 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences24–22 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences22–20 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences20–18 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences18–16 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences16–14 Mya — about 2 occurrences14–12 Mya — about 2 occurrences12–10 Mya — about 4 occurrences10–8.1 Mya — about 5 occurrences8.1–6.0 Mya — about 6 occurrences6.0–4.0 Mya — about 9 occurrences4.0–2.0 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.0–0 Mya — about 4 occurrences56 Mya11.7 ka60 Mya0 Mya

68 occurrences of Mustelus on record, most of them in the Eocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

68 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

37 formations

Marnes de Miretrain — 43.69°N, 1.13°WArenas de Huelva — 37.35°N, 6.61°WArenas de Huelva — 37.33°N, 6.68°WArenas de Huelva — 37.22°N, 7.10°WGehannam — 29.33°N, 30.08°EGehannam — 29.30°N, 30.05°EEsbarrondadoiro — 38.17°N, 8.17°WEsbarrondadoiro — 38.11°N, 8.36°WEsbarrondadoiro — 39.30°N, 8.12°WChucunaque — 9.13°N, 78.75°WSelsey — 50.80°N, 1.21°WCalvert — 38.16°N, 76.83°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.66°N, 117.90°WLa Meseta — 64.23°S, 56.67°WSables de Bracheux — 49.58°N, 2.65°ESables de Bracheux — 49.53°N, 2.75°ETuffeau de St-Omer — 50.53°N, 3.15°ETuffeau de St-Omer — 50.44°N, 3.07°ECubagua — 10.60°N, 64.24°WEarnley — 51.08°N, 1.17°WWittering — 51.08°N, 1.17°WLoxton — 34.15°S, 139.91°EPungo River — 35.40°N, 76.80°WRosarito Beach — 32.12°N, 116.80°WClinchfield — 32.91°N, 83.36°WUscari — 9.57°N, 82.57°WBreda — 51.47°N, 5.80°EChagres Sandstone — 9.28°N, 80.04°WChoptank — 38.16°N, 76.83°WSt. Marys — 38.16°N, 76.83°WEastover — 38.16°N, 76.83°W

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The named rock units Mustelus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 13 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 9 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Mustelus and its relatives

Eocene

Where Mustelus and its relatives were recorded in the Eocene.

Found in the same rock

1,222 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 61 sites for Mustelus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

39 references

Each of the 68 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 27 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Mustelus

Credit
Tassapon KRAJANGDARA, Thumawadee JAIYEN and Supachai RODPRADIT
Licence
CC BY 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Mustelus mustelus · UF:Fish:215560

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC0 Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itTriakinae through timeFormations of the EoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Linck 1790